An Injury, the Recovery, and Antinol

Miles and I lead a very active life filled with hiking and agility. I have invested huge amounts of time, research, and resources into preventively and proactively keeping Miles healthy. Since starting his competitive career he’s been on a regular schedule of: check-ups with a regular and a sports medicine veterinarian, massages, conditioning, at-home treatments, walking/hiking a minimum of 4.5 miles every day, and he has always been on the best possible diet and supplements that I am aware of. I will be writing more about this list soon! When Miles got injured during lockdown, it was devastating, but I also felt lucky that it was his first injury.

Early this year Miles woke up limping. I’d never seen him limp before. The evening before he’d been playing wildly with a puppy and noticed him slip when turning a corner. The symptoms were that he’d limp for a couple of minutes after resting and that his overall energy reduced to nothing. I will leave out the long part of the story about the pandemic veterinarian roulette that ensued which was incredibly stressful for me but thankfully not for Miles (P.S. thank you veterinary staff of the world!). Long story short, the consensus was that Miles had a shoulder injury, he’d need strict rest for months and regular therapeutic treatments, and I was warned that even young dogs who get this sort of injury don’t always fully recover. At first, the neon lights in my head broadcast three words only: “months of rest.” Miles is a wild man! To my surprise, Miles agreed. I was okay going out every day to hike alone knowing it was the right thing for him. The toughest part was the rollercoaster of seeing him so quiet and slow, and watching the limp go away only to reappear and switch sides.

{ To carry water and a 22 lb dog I found this pack to be the most back friendly  }

Six months later after what seemed like endless strict rest and constant at-home and in-clinic treatments, Miles was deemed recovered by our sports medicine veterinarian. He had long stopped limping at that point but was still slow moving and about once a day would wake up from a nap with a startled growl of discomfort. I wasn’t at all sad about the idea of stopping hiking or agility, but I was very sad at how dramatically different Miles was, and how uncomfortable he was.

{ Miles got injured (not agility related) one year almost to the day from this USDAA agility regionals in 2020 }

Figuring out what to do in the wake of the injury was probably the toughest part of the experience. Miles’ muscles were wasted and he was sore from six months of inactivity. His little senior body needed to move but was weak and uncomfortable.

Miles’ injury was healed, but after months of rest his formerly robust muscles were spindly and wasted. His body was weak for the first time in his life. All I could think was, “how will he get his strength back when he isn’t feeling good?” Miles and I went for a recheck with our sports medicine veterinarian and he had just gotten in a new supplement called Antinol. Miles has been on green lipped mussel 🦪 powder for most of his life. Antinol is a far more potent green lipped mussel oil gel cap.

{ Green lipped mussel oil 🦪 gel caps by Antinol }

Two weeks into Antinol, Miles asked to not to be left at home. I was nervous and took shorter walks and continued to carry him in a backpack on hikes. Miles whined in the pack at the end of week two and I got a dirty look from a guy on a mountain bike. Three weeks into Antinol, Miles said a very clear “no” to the pack and very enthusiastically hiked two big trails in the heat with me and my mom! My nerves about whether or not that was okay took a back seat to my shock witnessing my Welsh Terrier hike with gusto in the heat. If you share your life with a Welsh Terrier, you know what I mean!

After the long technical hikes I worried if Miles would be sore. After, he stretched out and didn’t wake up until the next morning. My mom and I were jealous as we were achey! Miles woke up ready to go, and hasn’t stopped since.

The injury took up a half year of our lives. The more time that goes by, the more it feels like a distant memory. I recently wrote about the outstanding new book The Forever Dog. I completely agree with the authors that the dream is for a dog to live a long life with minimal discomfort, rather than spending the senior half (yes half!) of their lives in chronic discomfort and pain (click here for the infographic). When I was growing up, the dogs in my neighborhood spent all of their senior years looking a lot like Miles did during his injury. We are so lucky to know more now and to have access to outstanding information about health and nutrition for ourselves and our dogs.

Note 1 🦪: If you haven’t heard of Green lipped mussel (GLM) before, it is a fantastic supplement for any age of dog. The worst part of Miles’ recovery from his injury was actually post-recovery when he was physically depleted, his muscles were wasted, and he was sore from so much rest. Miles has been on powdered GLM for most of his life, but in my research during his injury recovery I found Antinol which is a GLM oil gel cap. Just as fish oil is more powerful than freeze dried powdered fish, Antinol’s GLM oil is far more potent than the powder. Studies have shown that GLM has an anti-inflammatory effect on the body, eases symptoms of osteoarthritis, is beneficial for the gut microbiome, and contains EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids which are important for overall health but especially for cardiovascular and dermatological health. There is a section on green lipped mussel in The Forever Dog that provides more in depth information about the benefits of and scientific studies on GLM.

Note 2 🏥: This article is not meant to be a replacement for veterinary care. If you have any concerns about your dog’s appearance, gait, or health, please consult with your veterinarian immediately. Our regular veterinarian, sports medicine veterinarian, and a veterinarian-recommended professional who offers therapeutic treatment modalities were all essential towards helping Miles.

{ Subscribe to be notified when new posts go up about the ways I keep Miles healthy! }